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PAYERNE, Switzerland – An experimental solar-powered plane completed its first 24-hour test flight successfully Thursday, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. The test brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun. Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse out of the clear blue morning sky onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at exactly 9 a.m. (0700 GMT; 3 a.m. EDT). Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 207-foot (63-meter) wingspan didn't scrape the ground and topple the craft.

Confidence soared among the crew of an experimental solar-powered aircraft on Wednesday as it cruised above Switzerland in a historic bid to fly around the clock and prove the value of solar energy. The Swiss pilot's take-off run took barely 90 meters, testimony to the light weight and giant airliner-size wingspan of the single seater craft , which relies totally on 12,000 solar cells and nearly half a tonne of batteries.

After outracing the competition over the course of a week and 1,100 miles, the University of Michigan has captured top honors at the American Solar Challenge 2010 . U-M's Solar Car Team cruised to victory in 28 hours, 14 minutes, and 44 seconds, crossing the finish line in Naperville, Illinois on Saturday with a time more than two hours better than that of the second place squad from the University of Minnesota. This was University of Michigan’s sixth North American title, having won the first race in 1990 in Sunrunner and third in a row.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego, Canadian Solar Inc and HelioPower announced a new 116kW roof-mount photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system at the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego at 2929 Children’s Way in San Diego. This is the first Ronald McDonald House in California to use solar energy to help power the House that supports families with seriously ill children in local hospitals. Ronald McDonald House of San Diego will serve more than 20,000 families this year alone, and the solar electric installation will help offset the electrical needs of the families with clean energy. This month, the House celebrates the one-year anniversary of its 47-bedroom House for overnight guests and its Family Care Center, which serves as a day-time refuge for anyone with a child in a San Diego hospital.

Intersolar North America, taking place from July 13-15 in San Francisco's Moscone Center West Hall, promotes the development of business opportunities throughout the U.S. solar industry. More than 570 U.S.-based and international exhibitors and 20,000 trade visitors are expected.

America will need to build 527 biorefineries at a cost of $168 billion to meet the 2022 target of the Renewable Fuels Standard. That is according to the US Department of Agriculture, which said yesterday that it expects the biofuels market to react to the need for more renewable fuels infrastructure. It is expecting the cost of new advanced biofuels plants to be equivalent to $8 per gallon, although as more and more plants are built the costs would come down. And, in a new USDA report on the road ahead under the Renewable Fuels Standard, other costs to be met include at least $12 billion for fuel distribution infrastructure.

OriginOil is very specifically a technology company that wants to make it possible for producers to scale up algae industrially. We are very focused on helping to develop an algae industry in which many players do not exist yet. That means that we have to define our role very narrowly, so that other roles can be developed.

Honda Canada's facility in Richmond British Columbia is a 127,000 ft2 distribution warehouse serving Honda Canada's West Coast operations. Standard operating hours at Honda Canada's warehouse are between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Monday to Friday, averaging 60 hours of operation per week. Prior to installing an electrical Harmonizer-AVR, Honda Canada's warehouse consumed 1,331,520 kWh annually with a peak demand of 355 kW. For the purpose of this case study, these numbers will be used a benchmark for energy consumption.

There are several options available for solar energy education ranging from 1 day introduction courses through 2 year degree programs. There are community college programs, trade schools, courses offered by not for profit organizations and associations, manufacture product training and e-learning or online courses.

Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), released the following statement today after announcing an industry-wide goal of installing 10 gigawatts of solar capacity annually by 2015. Resch made the announcement during a presentation at the 35th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii: “Over the last few months, we have seen disaster after disaster caused by the fossil fuel industries and Americans are calling for a new direction for our energy future. And in communities across America, people are asking for an energy source that is clean, reliable, safe and creates economic opportunity. That energy source is solar.” Read the Full Release here.

Energy can be retrieved from the oceans in five basic ways: Tides, waves, tidal or marine currents, temperature gradients, and salinity gradients. Of these, wave energy is the most significant resource, according to ABS Energy Research, followed by power from salinity and thermal gradients.

During a vacation trip to the Disney World, I saw the Exxon-Mobile energy presentation. The presentation includes a portion in the form of the Jeopardy game. For the final question in the Jeopardy game, the answer is "The solution to the future energy need." The correct question is "What is brain power?"

Hydropower is the largest renewable source of power generation and currently accounts for about 20% of the world's total electricity supply. The world's hydropower installed capacity increased from 695.8GW (Gigawatts) in 2001 to 888.8GW in 2009, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.1%. Since hydropower is a mature technology, it has witnessed a modest growth rate.

Jack Short is the Secretary General of the International Transport Forum. He is also the Director of the Joint OECD/ITF Transport Research Centre, which was set up in 2004. He joined the ECMT in 1984 and was Deputy Secretary General from 1993 to 2001, when he became Secretary General. Previously he worked for the Ministries of Transport and Finance in Ireland, as well as in transport research.

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